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World War III
World War III was a global military conflict on the planet Earth. Two conflicts, actually, as each was, at different times in history, given that name. The first, also known as the Eugenics Wars, took place circa the mid to late 1990s, the second during the early to mid-21st Century. The Eugenics War The Eugenics Wars, the first conflict to be called World War III, began in the mid 1990s. The roots of the war were popularly felt to have been caused by the augments, a belief that shaped human and, later, Federation policy well into the 24th century. (DS9: "Doctor Bashir, I Presume?") Augments were people who, through selective breeding and genetic engineering, had been created to be "superior" to other humans. Designed by scientists to be stronger, braver, and smarter, they were also aggressive and arrogant. In 1993, a group of augments seized power simultaneously in over 40 nations. Earlier than that, though, the augment Khan Noonien Singh was the absolute ruler of more than a quarter of Earth, from Asia through the Middle East. His reign lasted from 1992 through 1996. (TOS; "Space Seed") Due, in part, to their inherent aggressiveness the augments began to battle among themselves after rising to power. "Because," as Spock put it, the scientists who had created them "overlooked one fact: superior ability breeds superior ambition." (TOS: "Space Seed") The war was devastating, consisting both of populations working to overthrow augments viewed as tyrants and augments fighting amongst themselves. Earth was on the verge of a dark ages; whole populations were being bombed out of existence in those areas where the war raged. While some cities and countries were spared the conflict itself, many were not. Khan, himself one of the first augments to gain power, was the last to be overthrown and branded a tyrant by history. (TOS: "Space Seed", VOY: "Future's End", ENT: "Borderland", "Cold Station 12", "The Augments"", Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) Colonel Green was a notorious military leader in the period during and after this conflict. After the cessation of formal hostilities he ordered the deaths of hundreds of thousands. His rationale was they were sickened with radiation, and their deaths were necessary to ensure that they and their progeny would be less likely to bear the genetic scars of radiation. Although he had some supporters even in the 22nd century (notably John Paxton) historians generally describe him as having waged "genocidal war" in the early 21st century. (TOS: "The Savage Curtain", ENT: "Demons") This conflict was referred to alternatively as World War III and/or the Eugenics War from its conclusion up through the 23rd century. (TOS: "Space Seed", ENT: "Demons") The World Again in Crisis By the mid-2000s, the international scene was deteriorating. The United Nations had been reorganized as the New United Nations. (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint") A number of nations joined together in a union known as the Eastern Coalition. Troops were controlled through the use of drugs and nuclear weapons still existed. (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint") Hostilities between the Eastern Coalition and forces including the United States broke out in the mid-21st century. The conflict soon escalated into full-blown nuclear holocaust, engulfing much of the globe and, as with the Eugenics War, nearly returning human civilization to a dark age. (Star Trek: First Contact, VOY: "In the Flesh") 600 million people died across the planet as a result. The subsequent collapse of the global economy, political systems, and the drastic environmental effects of the war devastated those nations which had escaped direct nuclear attack. (Star Trek: First Contact, TOS: "Space Seed", VOY: "In the Flesh") With many of the major governments collapsed, law and order soon degraded in places into a "guilty-until-proven-innocent", lawyer-free show trial system which lasted at least until 2079 in some parts of the world. (Star Trek: First Contact, TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint", "All Good Things...") But Earth did recover. Once hostilities were over in ca. 2053, Earth’s governments met in San Francisco to create, in the words of Nathan Samuels in 2155, "a just and lasting peace among nations". (Star Trek: First Contact, ENT: "Demons") :Samuels did not identify the war he meant when he said that mankind had "endured a catastrophic world war". It is reasonable for him to have intended it to mean the conflict of the mid-2000s as his analogy to the Coalition of Planets conference in 2155 would have rung hollow if his reference was to a failed attempt to bring peace after the Eugenics War. In keeping with the convention in the series, his pre-2364 reference to the mid-2000s conflict did not identify it as World War III. While some parts of the planet were able to rebuild quickly – doubtless aided in no small part by the aftereffects of First Contact in 2063 – other areas remained in decline. For those portions of the planet particularly hard hit by nuclear weaponry, this era is referred to as the post-atomic horror. (Star Trek: First Contact, TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint") From a 24th century perspective, Earth was still seen as recovering from World War III well into the early 22nd century; Picard even called the era "chaotic". (TNG: "Up the Long Ladder") Chaotic or not, people went on with their lives and between 2053 (even before first contact) and 2154, there were several film versions of "World War III" produced. One film swept every film award in 2154. (ENT: "Home") A War By Any Other Name These final two major conflicts in pre-warp Earth history have been called different things at different times by different people. Prior to 2267 the Eugenics War was alternatively and consistently called World War III and the death toll set at 37 million. (TOS: "Space Seed", "Bread and Circuses") After 2364 the mid-2000s war was consistently referred to as World War III and the death toll set at 600 million. (Star Trek: First Contact, VOY: "In the Flesh") So which conflict is meant by the term "World War III" depends upon the era of the comment. Background *The identification of wars and the separation of them into groupings have enormous political, social, and historical reasons behind them. For example, the conflict that took place in the United States between 1861-1865 has been alternatively called many things, many with clear ideological reasons: the American Civil War, the War Between the States, the War of the Rebellion, the War of Southern Independence, the War of Northern Aggression, the War for States' Rights, and Mr. Lincoln's War – to name but a few. World War I was also known as the Great War, the War of the Nations, and the War to End All Wars. Only after the early 1920s did it get a number. Churchill viewed the Seven Years War in 1756-1763 as the "first world war"; the French Revolutionary Wars (1792–1802) and the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were both also called the "first world war" (the latter also getting the name the "Great War"). Some have claimed that the Cold War should be called "World War III" and that the current war on terror is "World War IV". (These last two haven't caught on yet.) Small wonder that the very few glimpses we have into the naming conventions for these two conflicts in Star Trek are not entirely clear and consistent. *It is possible that the mid-2000s war did not take place on nearly all continents, and for that reason was not deemed a "World War" at first. Later historians might have believed the locations were less important than the overall effect on the world, and only then deemed it to be an official "world" war. After all, over 16 times as many people died. Either way, it is pretty clear: after 2364 all WWIII references are to the mid-21st century conflict; all before point to the Eugenics War or are unclear as to the conflict referenced. Moreover, some historians today don’t even like the terms "First" and "Second" World Wars, preferring to look at the conflicts during and between both as a single long world war from 1914 to 1945. It might be possible to think of World War III in this way, with different people ascribing different designations depending on whether they think the Eugenics War was only the first phase of a 60-year conflict known as WWIII. *Many fans have speculated that, since real life history does not support the existence of the Eugenics Wars during the time period established in TOS: "Space Seed", the Star Trek universe may actually take place in a parallel reality. In this case, conflicts with factual events would be moot. However, several Star Trek books (not canonical) try to explain that the Eugenics Wars have really happened on Earth, that they were what was "really" happening in brushfire conflicts in the third world during the 1990s. In this account the wars were limited to non-Western countries, and the governments hushed it up rather than reveal the truth. For example, various conflicts in the 1990's in the Balkans, Middle East, Africa, or between Pakistan and India were supposedly orchestrated by the Augment supermen like Khan, and what we the audience thought were the "real" governments of these nations were actually puppets put in place by Khan. This conceit is interesting, but is difficult to reconcile both with Spock’s summary in "Space Seed" of the conflict and the fact that we don’t yet have any spare DY-100 class ships (complete with artificial gravity) ready for liftoff. Category:Conflicts Category:Earth de:Dritter Weltkrieg